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Situation Awareness Differences between Novice and Expert Nurses in a Simulation (1090-003688) (Research Abstract Oral: Other)
Start time: Tuesday, January 26, 2021, 9:30 AM End time: Tuesday, January 26, 2021, 10:30 AM Session Type: Research Abstracts (Completed Studies) Cost: $0.00
Content Category: Researcher
Hypothesis:
Visual scanning has been used to identify cognitive processes such as situation awareness (SA) in pilots in order to improve training and flight safety.1,2 Situation awareness is imperative for healthcare workers in order to make timely clinical decisions. Therefore, this study sought to explore SA differences between Novices (senior prelicensure nursing students from two different schools) and Experts (ICU or ED nurses) in a high-fidelity simulation. The research question for this study was: What are the situational awareness differences between novice and expert nurses in a high-fidelity simulation.
Methods:
Using a known groups approach with a comparative design, this study was a prospective, two-group, multi-site investigation of Novice nurses (n = 32) and Expert nurses (n = 30). Participants completed a simulation of a severely dyspneic “patient” individually while wearing eye tracking glasses. Visual scanning data (dwell time, average fixation time and number of fixations) were obtained from an eye tracker for three areas of interest: the pulse oximeter value on the monitor (SpO2), the provider’s orders and the patient face.
Results:
While there was a difference between the groups on age (p = 0.01) there was no difference between groups for baseline or post-simulation knowledge (p = 0.32 and 0.36 respectively). On visual scanning measures, there was a significant difference between groups in both dwell time and fixation count for SpO2 (p = 0.05; p = 0.03) and provider orders (p = 0.01; p = 0.02).
Conclusions:
While student nurses are known to have a dependence on provider orders for direction, most concerning is the difference between the groups on their situation awareness as evidenced by SpO2 value dwell time and fixation counts. This indicates a need for further education of nursing students in assessment of physiological parameters pertinent to the patient’s condition, especially in the deteriorating patient.